AlphaJax, developed by Keith Patton in partnership with Auckland technology company Maker, is a cloud backed, multi-player word app running on the Windows Phone 7 platform. It is currently one of the highest rating paid apps in America, with a turn taken every five seconds.

Keith Patton, Technical Director at Marker, says that developing for Windows Phone 7 is a highlight of his career.

â€œWe are thrilled to take out the top spot at such well-respected and hotly contested awards. We have developed a number of apps for Windows Phone 7, including the Air New Zealand MPass and Yellow New Zealand. Itâ€™s important to make sure the coding should feel like fun â€“ if it doesnâ€™t, youâ€™re doing it wrong!â€

Nigel Parker, Windows Phone Development Advisor at Microsoft New Zealand, says that developer engagement is excellent and customers are now getting access to around 100 new apps per day.

â€œOff the back of the news that Nokia is adopting Windows Phone as its principal Smartphone strategy, we have seen a significant increase in the number of developers signing up to create applications for the new platform. At present there are more than 8,500 apps available in the Marketplace and more than 50 of these have been created by New Zealand developers.â€

While sales have been a strong focus for Microsoft, it has been customer satisfaction and active developer investment that have been most promising.

â€œEarly research indicates 93 percent of customers worldwide are satisfied with Windows Phone 7 and 90 percent would go on to recommend the phone to others. These early signs of satisfaction are reason to be bullish about the foundation for long-term success for the Windows Phone 7,â€ says Mark Bishop, Windows Phone Business Manager, Microsoft New Zealand.

Microsoft was well represented at the 2011 ONYA awards with a number of .NET, Silverlight and Windows Phone 7 projects making it into the finals. Microsoft gold partner NV Interactive was a finalist in four categories including Most Innovative for the BLACKCAPS Video Vault.